(cont.) Response to interpellation 2022/23:256 on the decline in housing construction
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
1 KD argues that the housing market is in a serious situation due to the economic cycle, inflation, and high interest rates 1. 1 KD emphasizes that the government is working on reforms to create sustainable housing construction, including by tasking the county administrative boards to promote construction and letting Boverket propose relaxations for student housing 1. 2 KD argues that the investment support was phased out responsibly in the tough economic situation 2. 3 KD claims that S lacked reforms beyond the investment support for eight years and that the current government has kick-started the work to solve structural problems 3. 3 KD looks forward to returning with many reforms and proposals 3.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! We now resume the interpellation debate in the chamber. Before the break for group meetings, I gave answers to Markus Kallifatides' questions. The questions that Kallifatides asked were, in broad terms, about the reliability regarding available knowledge on the decline in the construction of housing and whether the Minister, i.e., I, see reason to take measures to clarify how many houses are actually being started.
I want to first state what I also touched upon in my previous answer, Madam Speaker: The statistics that exist regarding housing construction are fundamentally reliable, but they always lag behind for natural reasons. Kallifatides accounted for the changes that have occurred in his question and in his subsequent contribution. These changes occur quickly and dramatically, and in those cases, uncertainty always arises regarding how the data should be interpreted. All official statistics are public, as are their quality and timeliness, which means that everyone can make their own analyses and assessments. Statistics and forecasts must, of course, always be interpreted based on the point in time that the statistics refer to.
The members of the committee also asked about the government's analyses and forecasts. It is actually nothing new - the Government Offices have always produced analyses and forecasts for important macroeconomic key figures. This is, among other things, important in order to be able to assess the effects of changed global factors and of the overall policy that a government pursues.
In my work as Minister for Housing, just like the members of the Swedish Riksdag, I have many contacts with relevant organizations, companies, and other actors who can provide current situational information. This is always important, just like the statistics from SCB and Boverket that were raised in the question.
What we can see - and what I believe everyone sees - is that we have a very serious situation in the housing market and the real estate market. Regardless of which source of forecast we use or whom we speak with, we see right now how the global situation, the economic downturn, the high inflation, the high interest rates, and the reduced purchasing power of households are affecting the housing and real estate market. The Government takes this very seriously and is following it very closely.
That is also why the government's reforms are so urgent. The first step that has now been taken is to restructure the housing policy to begin the work of creating a foundation for long-term sustainable housing construction. We have, as Member Beckman pointed out, tasked the county administrative boards to report on what measures they take in cooperation with the municipalities to promote increased housing construction.
The government has also tasked Boverket with proposing relaxations in the building requirements for student housing. In this tough situation, we need to ensure that the thresholds into the housing market, to the first home, do not become even higher. We need more student housing, and therefore this is an important assignment.
Madam Speaker! I look forward to returning to the Riksdag with further reforms which, as we have pointed out, are to be developed. We are working at a high pace on this, and it is even more urgent given the very tough economic situation that currently prevails.
Markus Kallifatides (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the delayed second contribution in this evening's debate.
I note that the government, I and the Social Democrats have a common view – there is a very serious situation when it comes to construction in Sweden. I believe that we can put the statistics aside a bit and instead focus on the gravity of the situation. Construction is therefore falling dramatically, even if we are a bit uncertain about how much it is falling.
What has the newly appointed Minister for Housing and the government done so far? They have prematurely phased out the state support for the construction of rental apartments with lower rent levels and thereby cut 25,000-30,000 apartments that could have been built in the coming years. The Minister for Housing has also personally been to Bromma Airport and assured the public that it will be flown there - not that 30,000 apartments will be built. I get it to minus 60,000 apartments through this government's policy so far.
The government has also signaled a few active measures in the housing policy area; two of them were mentioned in the interpellation response. One measure is that the county administrative boards have been tasked to report back to the government on what they are doing to encourage municipalities to stimulate construction. There is a risk that the person working at the County Administrative Board in Stockholm will have to report something along the lines of the following, which comes from the Moderate municipal councilor in Lidingö municipality, to the government:
What we hear from many others is that we should build more, denser, and preferably rental apartments. To them I want to say: Move to Botkyrka! Move to Sundbyberg! Move to Solna! Lidingö is good as it is.
This is also partly an answer to Lars Beckman's question. A very important obstacle to housing construction in Sweden is Moderate municipal councilors in Moderate-dominated municipalities, not least here in my own home region, namely Stockholm.
Madam Speaker! The second initiative the government has taken is to task Boverket with doing the same thing that Boverket did in 2016, namely to review the rules for student housing. One can build student housing on 15.5 square meters in Sweden - Boverket concluded that this was probably reasonable the last time these rules were reviewed in order to make them as simple as possible, so that we can build affordable student housing. I have lived in such places myself, I can state.
Minister Andreas Carlson spoke about lowering the thresholds. The problem is that the new student residences will most likely be closed to wheelchair users, the visually impaired, the hearing impaired, and persons with other disabilities, which the disability rights movement has, of course, already raised in public debate with Minister Andreas Carlson.
We will have to see what becomes of the two initiatives that have been taken.
We Social Democrats proposed that the investment support in the form it existed, which was abolished by the Riksdag, should be allowed to continue. In my final speech, I will address the proposals that we Social Democrats have for the future.
Lars Beckman (M)
Madam Speaker! Markus Kallifatides was given two extra hours thanks to the break when the parliamentary groups had a meeting. He was given two hours to reflect on the simple question that I asked: Which housing policy reform from any of the six housing ministers that his government had during eight years is he most proud of?
It became completely silent, because the box was empty for eight years. We have, therefore, eight lost years behind us when it comes to housing policy and reforms in this area.
But in the short time that the new government has been in power, we have already received two measures that will make a real difference.
One is the shift in perspective that the government has introduced for the County Administrative Board, for example in Gävleborg, namely to work together with the municipality and ensure that more is built – instead of the opposite. I myself was at a seminar in Gävle a couple of weeks ago, where the County Administrative Board participated. This was new for them; it was the first time they had a meeting to discuss how to build more.
The second is, naturally, the incredibly important fact that more student housing will be built.
It is clear that we in the Riksdag will also be pursuing the Minister for Housing. When I ask the members of the Tenants' Association and the activists in Gävleborg 2026 – you will remember that not a single one of 100 members of the Tenants' Association could say what Sweden's Minister for Housing was called – will they cheer and say: We have had a fantastic Minister for Housing, who has finally done something and not just talked. This is, of course, the goal.
The government has had a good start. More must be done. But, Markus Kallifatides, please answer which reforms you are most satisfied with.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, members, for the commitment in this debate!
I am struck by Markus Kallifatides' reasoning regarding the student housing and the assignment that the government has now given to Boverket. It is, therefore, broader and aims to make it simpler and cheaper to build based on students' needs. The assignment also includes considering, for example, accessibility for visitors in order to meet all the needs that exist. Boverket shall also cooperate with student organizations, construction and real estate companies, disability organizations, and authorities.
But shall we interpret Markus Kallifatides' criticism in the chamber tonight as that the Social Democrats are against this? That would, in that case, be a very clear message to Sweden's students, who today are not getting into the housing market. In a knowledge nation, one should be able to move to where one gets a place of study; then there must also be housing.
The assignment also includes reviewing the noise rules so that, for example, construction can take place in environments where it is noisy outside but one can sleep well or study in peace and quiet if the window or balcony door is closed. In that way, construction can be enabled where it is currently hindered, which many point out as a problem.
There are also other parts of the assignment aimed at significantly simplifying building for students, where the barriers are so high today.
It is precisely this that the previous government has not addressed. They have not lowered thresholds, they have not shortened lead times, they have not simplified building regulations, they have not given the county administrative boards a mandate to cooperate with the municipalities with the clear objective of stimulating and planning to increase their planning readiness.
When it comes to small houses, we will return to that. We know, in fact, that seven out of ten want to live in small houses, but the new production rate in Sweden is only 20 percent compared to 40 percent at the EU level. We are therefore lagging behind in that respect as well.
We are working on all of this at a high pace. We have presented two reforms, two assignments, and we will continue with this.
It is, Madam Speaker, quite common when Markus Kallifatides and I have conversations in the chamber on Tuesday evenings that the investment support comes up regardless of what the question was originally in an interpellation. I understand that, but what does not come up as often is that the Social Democrats in their shadow budget did not allocate a single krona more than the government did when we responsibly phased it out. We are adding funds so that everyone who has been granted support and has started construction will continue to receive support as it is phased out.
It was a responsible action from the government when we proposed this to the Riksdag and it was decided. That was also how we needed to handle it when we saw the tough economic situation we are in and will be in for a while longer. We were in it then, when we submitted the proposal.
An investment subsidy for buildings that perhaps would have been built anyway would have consumed a very large part of the reform space. These are funds that we have allocated to alleviate the effects for households primarily, because we know that is what is prioritized and important in this tough situation, when we also have a slightly contractionary budget to take responsibility for inflation.
Markus Kallifatides (S)
Madam Speaker! What this government has prioritized first and foremost is to lower the tax for high-income earners and to pour out electricity support to companies and individuals who possibly would not have received it in the round that has been paid out. It is the large amounts.
I return to the investment support because, in response to Lars Beckman's question, it was the strongest and most powerful measure to stimulate housing construction in this country that the previous parliamentary majority, with an S-led minority government, had on the table. This government terminated the investment support prematurely and thus broke its previous promises and commitments regarding the developers. I believe that Andreas Carlson is well aware of the disappointment out there regarding this.
We proposed in our budget motion here in the Riksdag an authorization of 8 billion kronor - we did that, in black and white. We also did a good deal of other things. I can mention such as support for energy efficiency measures in multi-family housing; I think that is important.
Not least the latest Social Democratic Minister for Housing, Johan Danielsson, also took the initiative for a long series of inquiries, several of which Andreas Carlson and the government currently in power have discontinued, for example the one on a state-owned real estate company, the Housing Segregation Inquiry, and the inquiry on measures against social dumping.
We Social Democrats mean, which is clearly evident in the committee motion with our proposals for the future that I myself have been involved in laying before the Riksdag, that, not least in the serious economic situation and the recession we are currently in, with the dramatically falling housing construction, it is indeed time that even parts of the Swedish bourgeoisie dare to consider the idea that Sweden too, and not just all other countries, should actually invest a little in the new construction of housing. That is, after all, how one gets the housing supply in order in a country around the world.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, members, for this discussion! I appreciate the commitment.
I have accounted for two of the first assignments. We will return with several more – the Riksdag can be certain of that. Reforms shall be developed to increase access to buildable land, and the rules for building shall be simplified and improved significantly. Lead times need to be shortened. Municipalities shall, as we have touched upon, be urged and stimulated to increase their planning readiness.
There are, Madam Speaker, no shortcuts here. It concerns many different parts where one needs to move forward in parallel; one needs to have a holistic perspective.
What is being illustrated in this discussion is, once again, that the Social Democrats had a reform in the box for eight years, namely the investment support. That was primarily it. Much more was needed. We need to address the structural problems that have built up over a very long time. It will take time to turn around, but this government has kick-started the work.
We will return with many reforms and proposals and also, I can imagine, one or another dialogue in the chamber during interpellation debates, where we will also in the future have the pleasure of exchanging views with one another. I look forward to that!
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.